Journalist, people chief in Australia & now convicted predator. The downfall of Balesh Dhankhar

Gurugram: A single-storey place of dwelling, with a partially-built first ground, stands on a side road in Radha Swami Colony in Rewari the city, the executive headquarters of the Rewari district in Haryana. This home is the place Balesh Dhankhar’s nation lives.

Balesh Dhankhar (45), a former office-bearer of the In a foreign country Buddies of BJP (OFBJP) in Australia, has been sentenced to 40 years in jail by means of a Sydney courtroom. From the single-storey space, he shifted Ailing Underneath on a learn about visa in 2006 and after all settled there as an IT skilled.

Dhankhar, in 2023, was once convicted of the “elaborately executed, manipulative and highly predatory” rapes of 5 Korean ladies over 9 months. The allegations towards him incorporated administering intoxicating components to ladies on six counts, aspiring to rape them.

Within the untouched building, Dhankhar’s sentencing has come for 39 offences, together with 13 counts of rape, 3 counts of indecent attack, and 17 counts of the intentional recording of intimate pictures with out consent. The fees towards him incorporated luring the ladies with faux activity ads, raping them, and making movies era they remained subconscious.

“An egregious sequence of planned predatory conduct against young and vulnerable women over a significant period,” the line from 7 March this 12 months famous. All of the offences took park from January to October 2018.

“In each case, the offender convinced the victim, who had responded to an advertisement on Gumtree, that he was interviewing her for a Korean language interpretation/translation job in Sydney for a genuine business that operated internationally,” the sentencing line famous. “On each occasion, the offender invited them to dinner after the interview and used a ruse to get the victims then to his residence, a studio apartment in World Square. There, the offender drugged and indecently and sexually assaulted the victims.”

In its review of the case, the Sydney courtroom mentioned Dhankhar “researched and obtained suitable covert recording devices” and “drugs that he later utilised to commit the offences”, acquiring the medication via prescriptions from clinical practitioners by means of falsely claiming pleasure issues.

The courtroom additionally seen that he maintained an Excel spreadsheet to conserve observe of “potential employment applicant victims”, with information in their names, dates of software, gender, occasion, cellular quantity, and electronic mail cope with, amongst alternative data. He additionally saved information of his bodily and highbrow exams of the ladies, the dates and occasions of conferences with them, and what motion he took or the extent of sexual good fortune he accomplished with them.

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What the nation mentioned

Positioned at Sector 3 Section-2, Radha Swami Colony is likely one of the poshest boxes within the south-western the city of Rewari, Haryana.

Chatting with ThePrint, Dhankhar’s more youthful brother mentioned if the arena thought that Dhankhar did what he stood convicted of, his brother would endure the repercussions of his movements.

“What else can I say? It is beyond my comprehension why the media is hounding my aged parents or our family. What have we done to deserve what we are getting?” he mentioned, including that although his nation gave any explanations, crowd weren’t in a position to consider.

“The fact is that Balesh has become a victim of a big conspiracy. With no political backing or wealth, he attained a high place among the Indian diaspora within a short time due to his sheer hard work and positive attitude. However, this was not palatable for many,” mentioned the more youthful brother. “He has become a victim of a bigger conspiracy in Australia. We only want a judicial inquiry into his case. However, we are not getting any support.”

Highlighting Dhankhar’s welfare paintings, the more youthful brother mentioned he constructed a number of bogs in coordination with Sulabh Shauchalaya at Tajpur similar Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

He additionally shared copies and hyperlinks to a few tales in The Australian newspaper in Sydney, with one headline studying, ‘Fifteen rape cases discontinued during New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling’s audit’. Pointing to the headline, he added: “Just the way the NSW Director Public Prosecution’s office audited nearly 400 rape cases of 2024, we want an audit of my brother’s cases. But, we do not know where to go and who to approach,” he mentioned.

Requested whether or not the nation was once making plans to exit an attraction towards Dhankhar’s conviction, his brother mentioned it will want a minimum of Rs 2 crore, however the nation does no longer have the cash to proceed for such an choice. “All our hope rests on a judicial inquiry or an audit of his cases, whatever you call it, but we are completely clueless about how to make this happen,” the more youthful brother concluded.

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In a foreign country Buddies of BJP

Commenting on Dhankhar’s hyperlink to In a foreign country Buddies of BJP, the more youthful brother mentioned that OFBJP, Australia, was once introduced in 2013. It was once simply forward of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when Narendra Modi was once vying for the PM’s publish for the primary life.

The OFBJP’s Fb web page, crafted on 15 September 2013, describes it as a gaggle of supporters and sympathisers of the Bharatiya Janata Birthday celebration, ruling the celebration of Republic of India.

As defined at the web page, the organisation’s goals are to undertaking a good and proper symbol of Republic of India and its crowd within the Australian and international media and proper any distortions within the media’s reporting of tide occasions in Republic of India. Alternative goals are to advertise the philosophy of ‘integral humanism’, foster a cordial courting between Indian and Australian crowd by means of launch direct conversation channels with native ethnic and nationwide media and setting up habitual seminars on subjects of mutual passion to paintings in opposition to wholesome social bonds amongst Australian Indians, regardless of pocket, faith, race, creed and color.

Making a assume tank of mature, skilled and clever folks of Indian beginning to utilise their experience and knowledge to generate pristine concepts that may be advisable for the  Indian people in Australia and the crowd of Republic of India, and dealing in opposition to wholesome social bonds amongst Indians, and serving to generate a sense of oneness and brotherhood also are discussed as goals at the OFBJP web page.

“All prominent members of the OFBJP, Australia, including my brother, were invited to Modi’s oath-taking ceremony in 2014,” mentioned the more youthful brother.

Dhankhar’s early years

Born on 23 January 1980, Balesh Dhankhar handed his 10+2 from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Rewari, in 1998.

“He was an average student but was very active in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. He, particularly, was good in debates,” the more youthful brother advised The Print.

Certainly one of his schoolmates, operating in a Haryana govt segment, recalled that Dhankhar was once very ‘khurafati (naughty)’ all the way through his college days.

“One fine day, an important guest was to come to the school. A day before, he had discussed with us how to grab the guest’s attention. The next morning, he came with a tonsured head and asked the guest a question,” he advised The Print. “This way, he managed to grab the guest’s attention for the rest of the time as the odd man in the class.”

Dhankhar’s more youthful brother, a former journalist, mentioned: “After completing his schooling at KV, Rewari, my brother completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Application from the Indira Gandhi Open University and his Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication (PGDMC) from IIMC, Dhenkanal (Odisha), in 2002.”

“Once he had completed his PGDMC, he worked with Reuters for two years before leaving for Sydney to do his Master of Information Technology (MIT) programme from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS),” mentioned the more youthful brother, claiming to have himself labored with information channels for just about 5 years sooner than switching over to an administrative activity in an automotive corporate in close by Dharuhera. “My brother shifted to Australia in 2006. My parents then wanted me to shift to a 9-to-5 job so that I could take care of my family.”

The identities of Dhankhar’s nation contributors and the aged classmate be on one?s feet secure at their request.

In Australia, Balesh Dhankhar had transform a people chief sooner than gaining notoriety for his convictions. Dhankhar had remained related to political and cultural organisations, steadily advocating for bilateral ties between Republic of India and Australia.

Alternatively, his conviction for more than one rapes shattered his recognition. His case, involving intensive forensic and video proof, become one of the high-profile felony trials of an Indian nationwide in Australia, highlighting problems with consent and exploitation.

(Edited by means of Madhurita Goswami)

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